The Chemistry LaTeX tutorial

Welcome to the chemistry Latex tutorial!

We will cover:

Introdution
The Basics
Bidirectional Equations
Ionic Equations
Complex Equations (Complexes)
State Symbols
Nuclear & Isotopic Equations
Simple Bonds
Other Stuff

Introdution

We also have a set of tags that generate LaTex for chemistry items, these have their own tags: [ce][/ce]. Please note that you can simply click on a LaTeX image to get a popup showing the LaTeX code involved.

The Basics

In normal LaTex we would need to show the super and sub-script items manually, this is not the case for the chemistry LaTex:

$6CO2 + 6H2O -> C6H12O6 + 6O2$

... and the revere of the above:

$6CO2 + 6H2O <- C6H12O6 + 6O2$

... and another one for good measure:

$K4Fe(CN)6 + 6H2SO4 + 6H2O -> 2K2SO4 + FeSO4 + 3(NH4)2SO4 + 6CO$

Which deals with the subscript text for you. As you can also see the -> translates into an arrow for the directon of progression, <- into a reverse progression arrow and you can even do <-> for bidirectional!

Bidirectional Equations

We sometimes need an equation that is not mono-directional but can flow in two ways and we thus require another arrow form:

$6CO2 + 6H2O <=> C6H12O6 + 6O2$

Ionic Equations

These often come up, these require superscript items representing charges, this is also easily done. Here is an example:

$Ag^{+} + Cl^{-} -> AgCl$

... and here is another:

$Ca^{2+} + 2Cl^{-} + 2Ag^{+} + 2NO^{3-} -> Ca^{2+} + 2NO^{3-} + 2AgCl$

Simple no?

Complex Equations (Complexes)

These are basically identical too the normal equations, for example:

$[Cd\{SC(NH2)2\}2] . [Cr(SCN)4(NH3)2]2$

... and some other examples:

$[CuNH3Cl5]^{-3}$

$[Co(NH3)5Cl]SO4$

$[Co(H2NCH2CH2NH2)3]2(SO4)3$

State Symbols

Unfortunatly we do not have a LaTex command to add these (maybe in the future?) but we can easily add these manually.

$6CO2_{(g)} + 6H2O_{(l)} <=> C6H12O6_{(aq)} + 6O2_{(g)}$

As you can see _{(g)} is the state symbol for a gas, _{(l)} for a liquid, _{(s)} for solid and finally _{(aq)} for aqueous.

Nuclear Equations

As yet I have never seen them come up but I will cover them here just incase they are ever required.
Again, there are no special commands here - we just usethe ^ and _ formatting operators.

Here is an example of a nuclear equation:

$^{3}He + ^{3}He -> ^{4}He + 2p \qquad 12.9 MeV$

... and here is the same one in another form:

$_{2}^{3}He + _{2}^{3}He -> _{2}^{4}He + 2p \qquad 12.9 MeV$

... and here are a few more:

$^{13}C + ^{1}H -> ^{14}N + \gamma$

$^{15}O -> ^{15}N + e^{+} + v_e$

Simple Bonds

In LaTex it is possible to add simple bonds, these are some of the bond types you can have:

$C\sbond O$

$H2\sbond C\dbond C\sbond H2$

$H\sbond C\tbond C\sbond H$

We also sometimes express a bond as a "." - this displays as a center aligned dot when done through LaTex:

$KCr(SO4)2.12H2O$

Other Stuff

Should you need to place something above or below the progression direction arrow it can be done like this:

$6CO2 + 6H2O ->[light] C6H12O6 + 6O2$

... or one above and one below the arrow:

$6CO2 + 6H2O ->[light][energy] C6H12O6 + 6O2$

Or, only below (Applies to anything not just the arrows)

[LaTeX Error: Syntax error]

This one has a fraction as the bracket value:

$Fe(CN)_{\cmath{\frac{6}{2}}}$

That concludes the tutorial but here are some more examples for you:

$pH = pK_a + \log\frac{[A^-]}{[HA]}$

$6CO2 + 6H2O ->[{Light Energy}] C6H12O6 + CO2 \quad \Delta G^{\circ} = +2870kJ/mol$

$6CO2 + 6H2O ->[\textcolor{blue}{Light Energy}][\textcolor{red}{Endothermic}] C6H12O6 + CO2 \quad \Delta G^{\circ} = +2870kJ/mol$

$^{26}_{13}Al + e^{-} -> ^{26}_{12}Mg +{\nu}_e$

$2H2SO4 + HNO3 -> 2HSO4^{1-} + NO2^{+} + H3O^{+}$

$H3C-CO2^{-}Ag^{+} + Cl-CH2-CH3 -> H3C-COO-CH2-CH3 + AgCl$

$[C5H5NH^{+}]Cl^{-} + CrO3 -> [C5H5NH][CrO3Cl]$

Cheers,

Ryan Jones

LaTeX Code

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